No person holding an elective office in a political subdivision of this state shall at the same time hold another elective office or full-time appointive office in the government of this state or in the government of a political subdivision thereof. No such person shall hold at the same time employment in the government of this state, or in the same political subdivision in which he holds an elective office.

Thomas said he doesn’t believe his employment conflicts with his seat on the school board. He noted that he has disclosed his job in annual filings with the state Board of Ethics. But the board looks for violations of the state’s Code of Governmental Ethics, not the Dual Office Holding and Dual Employment law. That’s usually handled by the Attorney General’s Office, said Ethics Board spokeswoman Alainna Giacone.

However, Thomas said he doesn’t teach at the university or deal with academic curriculum. His job description, provided Monday in response to a public records request, makes no mention of academic duties.

At a school board meeting Tuesday evening, Thomas said he would seek an Attorney General’s opinion on the matter.

Even if the law does prohibit Thomas from working at Southern and sitting on the school board, chatter alone will not remove him from office. The law states that someone — a private citizen, district attorney or attorney general — must file a petition in court raising the issue, and a judge would have to rule against the officeholder.

“Obviously, this is someone who has some problem with my position as president of the school board,” he said.

Polarizing figure

The Orleans Parish School Board was relatively quiet for the first few years of Thomas’ tenure. Starting last year, he and his ally, District 2 representative Cynthia Cade, started to feud with other members.

Several board insiders saw this as an attempt to oust the two administrators, but Thomas and Morris, the board’s attorney, said they were simply correcting past errors in how the contracts were handled. One of those items — to nullify the contract for deputy superintendent Kathleen Padian — is now listed on the board’s Tuesday night agenda.

A complex law

The Lens asked seven law professors at five universities in New Orleans and around the state to discuss how the law would apply to someone in Thomas’s situation. The five who responded declined to comment on the record; several said they weren’t familiar enough with the situation or the law to offer an opinion.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor has published a 29-page guide with explanations and examples of how the law applies in different cases, such as “Violet” who wants to know if she can serve as alderman and town clerk for the city of “Purpleton.” (In that case, the answer is black and white: no.)

A guide from the Attorney General’s Office shows just how complicated it is to sort out what’s legal and what’s not. A matrix provides guidance on 60 possible combinations of elected offices and types of positions: state, local and federal; full- and part-time employment; and elected and appointed offices.

Governmental entities and officials may request an attorney general’s opinion on whether particular positions violate dual service laws. Nearly a hundred people have done so in the past three years, according to Attorney General’s Office records.

Yet in 2004, Barry Bordelon resigned from the Jefferson Parish School Board a month after he took a job with Jefferson Parish Councilman Elton Lagasse. The Times-Picayune reported at the time that Bordelon cited the state’s dual office-holding law.

This story was updated after publication to note that Thomas said that he would seek an Attorney General’s opinion.

Jessica Williams stays on top of the city's loosely organized collection of public schools, with a special emphasis on charter schools. In 2011 she was recognized by the Press Club of New Orleans for her reporting on charter school transparency and governance. In 2012, she was part of a team that received a National Edward R. Murrow Award for their work following a New Orleans family's recovery after Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Edna Karr Secondary School in Algiers, and she obtained her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Loyola University New Orleans. She can be reached at (504) 575-8191.

I just posted in the Audubon Charter article that OPSB members should attend the meeting Wednesday (regarding the McDonogh 7 building) and not take Padian’s word for anything because employees come and go, but board members are usually there for the duration of their term. Oh-oh!!! Looks like Padian may be there and Thomas may be the one leaving. Only goes to show you, folks, how bad New Orleans really is. Thomas has been at SUNO for years while serving on the OPSB. Now the issue is raised?! My guess is Usdin and her supporters (NSNO/BESE/LDOE/RSD/White…) are behind this but working well below the radar (a suit is a comin’). Maybe Ira just shouldn’t have tried to renegotiate Stanley C. Smith’s and Kathleen Padian’s contracts or mess with that RSD-OPSB Wheatley (and there are more) “thing.” There won’t be any problems with Cade. She went “missing” for the first full business meeting after the inauguration. Thomas was going to be odd-man-out anyway, as Usdin was wagging that dog with 3 votes anyway. Excellect article, Jessica!